In the Rockies today, grizzly bears in Idaho and Montana, black bears in B.C., and Utah communities argue both sides of coal-fired power.
The shooting of a grizzly bear in an area of Idaho where no such bears were thought to roam has prompted a partnership between the federal government and Idaho and Montana to search a 5,000-square-mile area in north-central Idaho and western Montana to see if there are any more grizzly bears in that region.
In British Columbia's resort town of Whistler, black bears are becoming more common and much more assertive in their searches for food, forcing the humans in that town to radically change their habits.
And in Utah, one corner of the state wants a coal-fired power plant project shut down, while another part of the state sues for such a project to go forward.
The residents of St. George and Washington County aren't happy about a plan that would put a 750-megawatt coal-fired power plant just across the border in Nevada, and are asking federal, state and local officials to help block Sithe Global Power's Toquop Energy Project.
On the supporting side of coal-fired energy in the state is the Utah Associated Municipal Power System--a consortium of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico and California cities--that is fighting for the right to build a third-coal fired unit at its Intermountain Power Project near Delta, Utah.
Los Angeles and five other California cities, which buy 75 percent of the power produced at the Intermountain plant, originally approved the project but are now withdrawing their support.
For our readers who are within driving distance of Missoula, University of Montana professor Steven Running, who shared in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, will give a lecture titled "The Five Stages of Climate Grief" at 4 p.m. today in the University Center Ballroom.
Rockies today
Montana, Idaho team up with federal agencies to count grizzly bears
If they can come up with the $60,000 needed to fund the project, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, along with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, will spend next summer searching a 5,000-square-mile area for grizzly bears in north-central Idaho and western Montana.
Idaho Statesman (AP); Nov. 23
Burgeoning black bear population besieges B.C. resort town
There are about 9,000 year-round residents in Whistler, B.C., and gets about 2 million visitors each year, but the 100 or so black bears have put both residents and tourists under siege.
New York Times; Nov. 25
Idaho congressman pitches bill for fuel-reduction zones
U.S. Rep. Bill Sali sponsored legislation that would exempt fuel-reduction projects around timber communities and private property adjacent to federal lands from lengthy environmental reviews, and the Idaho Republican stressed that the focus of the bill would be to reduce fuel loads not ratchet up timber production on federal lands.
Idaho Statesman (Lewiston Tribune); Nov. 26
USFS reconsiders Arizona thinning project
A fuels-reduction project designed to protect Flagstaff from wildfire will undergo another review after environmental groups said the U.S. Forest Service's plan for the Coconino National Forest in Arizona would adversely affect goshawks.
Arizona Daily Sun; Nov. 26
Utah cities' coal-fired power plan conflicts with L.A.'s green designs
The Utah Associated Municipal Power System, a coalition of 23 Utah cities that operate their own electric utilities, is taking the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to court over the California city's decision to pull the plug on UAMPS's plan to add a third coal-fired generation unit at the Intermountain Power Project in Utah.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 24
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Nevada's coal-fired power plant plans sparks protests in Utah
A plan to build a 750-megawatt coal-fired power plan near Mesquite, Nev., has residents from Utah's St. George region all fired up, with more than 500 from Washington County signing on to a petition asking Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Utah's congressional delegation and the Utah state attorney general to help them fight the project.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 22
Disgruntled Utah city takes land fight to the streets
After developers successfully won the right to take 4,000 acres of southwest Salt Lake County suburb from Bluffdale and annex it to Herriman, Bluffdale officials suspended plans to extend that suburb's streets across the 4,000 acres prompting calls of retaliation from the developers.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 24
Opinion
'Liar's loans', 'nina loans'--no matter the name, they've all gone bad
Every week it seems another crevasse is found in the nation's lending practices, and the announcement that the government-sponsored mortgage lending enterprise Freddie Mac would have to write down the value of the loans it guaranteed by $1.2 billion, due in part to a dismal lapse in the entity's underwriting standards, is another indication of the nation's deepening credit crisis.
New York Times; Nov. 23
Utah, Nevada could do more to conserve water
Utah needs to pay attention to how Nevada uses its water because Nevada has its eye on an aquifer that underlies both states, and in an increasingly arid part of the American West, a drop of water saved is one less that needs to be found ever deeper underground or dammed up.
Salt Lake Tribune; Nov. 22
Colorado conservation easement program could use a tune-up
The use of conservation easements to preserve what's best about Colorado is a good program, and the ability of farmers and ranchers to sell their tax credits has extended the reach of such deals to the state's benefit, but the appraisal of the tracts must be fair and reasonable and the state's investigation of such overvalued parcels and inflated tax credits is warranted and will ensure this worthy plan continues in the future.
Durango Herald; Nov. 26
Cabela's marketing plan runs afoul of Montanans' mind-set
Cabela's, the iconic retailer of all hunting and fishing goods, is finally opening a store in Montana, but the retailer's foray into real estate marketing ranches in Montana as trophy properties--and perhaps ending public access on those lands--has stirred up the membership of the Montana Wildlife Federation, who are vowing not to spend a single penny in the new Billings store.
NewWest.net; Nov. 22
Beyond the region
OHV users bitter about travel plan for Oregon forest
The proposed travel plan for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, eastern Oregon's largest national forest, would end motorized vehicle travel on 4,261 miles of the national forest's roads, about 46 percent of 9,000 road miles on the 2.3 million acre forest.
Portland Oregonian; Nov. 26
California residents take firefight into their own hands
When professional firefighters couldn't make it to their neighborhood, residents of a Malibu neighborhood defended their homes themselves with the help of one resident's 31-year-old firetruck.
Christian Science Monitor; Nov. 26
Bush administration asks court to postpone decision on immigration plan
After the Department of Homeland Security unveiled a plan to go after employers that did not verify the employees they hired were legal residents, a coalition of business owners, labor and farm groups sued, and last Friday the Bush administration asked the court to delay the case until March so the plan could be modified.
Washington Post; Nov. 25
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